Time for another studio tour! To celebrate the season of giving, we're taking a tour of One Can illustrator Isabelle Malenfant's workspace.

Describe your creative process. How do you begin? What tools do you use? 

 My creative process is often different but always begins by sketching out the characters. That’s my favourite part! I love the moment when a character appears to me and I know I’ve found the right one. Then, I’ll start with small-scale preliminary sketches to work out the basic composition, leading to the creation of more refined and detailed sketches after that.

 If I do the final artwork entirely by hand, I will use different types and shades of graphite pencils, charcoal vine, colour pencils and soft pastels (applied with cotton swabs). Not to mention my erasers — I love my erasers (pen erasers, kneaded erasers and electric erasers) — and I use them extensively.

In my colouring process, I make a deliberate artistic choice to leave certain details or objects uncoloured. I like to bring some elements into focus while the surrounding areas fade into the background.

And if I decide to go digital (as in One Can), I will scan the clean sketches and create the final artwork using Procreate software. I could save time by first drawing my sketches digitally, but I much prefer working with traditional media, to feel the texture … you just don’t get that same sensory feedback on a screen. I’m old-school, I like getting my fingers dirty when I draw!

What are your ideal working conditions? Do you listen to music, or do you need silence to work? Do you work in daylight, or are you a night owl? 

To work, I need music to focus and create a good mood, and at least one cat. Lucky me, I have three cats: Loulou, Kiwi and Ponyo, so there’s always a cat around, either napping or playing with something they shouldn’t. I find they’re the best work buddies!

Although I’m naturally a morning person (I need daylight!), I also love to work in the quiet of the night, a timeless space where I feel like the world stands still … but it’s easy to lose track of time!

I like having several workspaces in my studio: my computer desk is like a control panel, where I do visual research, write and manage all the paperwork; my large, all-purpose high table, which I’ve had for almost thirty years; and my inclined table, which I generally use for my visual art creations. I prefer to work standing up, I find it more comfortable.

Which items in your studio are your favourite?

I couldn’t possibly pick my favourite items from among all the little things that brighten up my workplace. There’s something about artistic chaos that just sparks my creativity, so I like my studio to be full of life, filled with plants and any little treasures that make me smile and think of someone special or precious moments. I like my walls to be covered with work in progress or draft ideas, drawings I’m proud of, artwork by my artist friends, and naïve pieces of art made by my daughters when they were little.

And if you look closely through my jumble, you’ll spot these fantastic vintage jars from my dad’s old doctor’s office. They once held sterile essentials like cotton swabs, tongue depressors and applicators; now, they ironically overflow with art supplies, a juxtaposition I find delightfully funny.

Learn more about One Can by Lana Button and Eric Walters, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant.